The High Museum of Art is marking its 100th anniversary this fall with reinstalled American and African art galleries, more than 200 new acquisitions and a free Centennial Block Party on Peachtree Street on October 18. The museum will also cover admission for every Atlanta Public Schools K-12 field trip during the 2026-27 school year.
Key Takeaways
- The High traces its founding to October 1926, when Harriett “Hattie” High donated her Peachtree Street home to house the city’s first art museum.
- New acquisitions in the American galleries include a rare Jacob Lawrence painting, a quilt by Carolyn L. Mazloomi and a work by Grandma Moses.
- The African art galleries add works by Nigerian artists Ben Enwonwu, Ladi Kwali, Nike Okundaye, Bruce Onobrakpeya and Jimoh Akolo.
- The museum hosts about 4,000 Atlanta Public Schools students each year, and all K-12 field trips are free through the 2026-27 school year.
- The Centennial Block Party closes a section of Peachtree Street from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, with live music, DJs, art-making and food vendors.
A Century That Started in a Single Peachtree Street House
Few major American museums began as modestly as the High. In October 1926, Hattie High gave her Peachtree Street residence to the city, and the house became Atlanta’s first art museum. The collection that started in those rooms now holds more than 20,000 works spanning centuries, continents and media.
The institution’s growth tracks closely with Atlanta’s own. In 1962, more than 100 Atlanta arts patrons died in a plane crash at Paris-Orly, a loss that led the city to build the Memorial Arts Center, now the Woodruff Arts Center, as a living tribute. The Richard Meier-designed building that gave the High its modern identity opened in 1983. A walking tour on October 29 will trace the architects behind each building that has housed the museum, giving visitors a way to read the city’s history through the High’s own addresses.
Reinstalled Galleries Trade Chronology for Connection
The centerpiece of the centennial is a rethinking of how the High shows its own collection. The American and African art galleries are being reinstalled around thematic and material connections rather than strict chronology, placing works from different periods and disciplines side by side.
That choice matters more than it might first appear. A chronological gallery asks visitors to follow a timeline. A thematic gallery asks them to notice how a 20th-century quilt and a modernist painting can share a visual language, or how ceramics and textiles from one region speak to prints made decades later. For a museum trying to draw first-time visitors, the second approach lowers the barrier to entry.
The new American acquisitions make the case. A Jacob Lawrence painting, a quilt by Ohio-based artist and quilt historian Carolyn L. Mazloomi and a Grandma Moses work represent three different routes into American storytelling. In the African galleries, paintings, textiles, prints, drawings and ceramics by Ben Enwonwu, Ladi Kwali, Nike Okundaye, Bruce Onobrakpeya and Jimoh Akolo deepen the High’s holdings of modern Nigerian art. Beyond those galleries, the museum plans to add more than 200 works across photography, contemporary design and contemporary art.
Centennial Exhibitions Run Into 2027
The High Museum of Art has built a rolling exhibition calendar around the anniversary. “Martin Puryear: Nexus,” a major survey of the American sculptor’s work, is on view through January 17, 2027. “I SPY! Walter Wick’s Hidden Wonders,” built around the artist behind the popular puzzle books, runs through January 3, 2027, and is designed for close looking by visitors of all ages.
“Photography as a Way of Life: Minor White, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan” opens October 9 and runs through February 7, 2027. “Paper Trees,” drawn from the High’s own prints, drawings and sculpture, stays up through February 21, 2027. In February, the museum will open an exhibition of more than 50 works examining Jean-Michel Basquiat’s engagement with printmaking.
Free Access Shapes the Anniversary Calendar
The High Museum of Art is leaning on free programming to widen its audience during the centennial. Free admission days continue on the second Sunday and third Wednesday of each month, and the October dates carry centennial themes. The October 11 Second Sunday includes an I SPY-inspired chalk art activation and music on the Piazza, preceded that morning by a free Sensory-Friendly Morning for neurodivergent visitors and families. The October 21 Access for All day offers free admission and drop-in programming for adults.
The October 18 Block Party is the public centerpiece, followed that afternoon by “100 Years of Art in Atlanta,” a talk on the museum’s history and its next century. Teens get their own night on October 23, when the museum’s Teen Leadership Council hosts a centennial Halloween event, and “A Haunting at 100” closes the month on October 30.
The museum is also working with MARTA, the Atlanta Beltline and several Atlanta-based organizations on public art installations beyond its Midtown campus, alongside a commemorative book of 100 large-scale reproductions and a new visual identity planned for this fall. The High sits across the street from MARTA’s Arts Center Station, which makes transit the simplest way to reach the Block Party and free days.
FAQs
When is the High Museum Centennial Block Party?
The Centennial Block Party takes place Sunday, October 18, 2026, from noon to 5 p.m. on Peachtree Street outside the High Museum of Art. Admission is free.
When was the High Museum of Art founded?
The High traces its founding to October 1926, when Harriett “Hattie” High donated her Peachtree Street home to the city to serve as an art museum.
Does the High Museum of Art have free admission days?
Yes. The museum offers free admission on the second Sunday and third Wednesday of each month, and Atlanta Public Schools K-12 field trips are free throughout the 2026-27 school year.
What exhibitions are on view during the High’s centennial?
Centennial exhibitions include “Martin Puryear: Nexus,” “I SPY! Walter Wick’s Hidden Wonders,” “Paper Trees” and “Photography as a Way of Life,” which opens October 9, 2026.
